Scutching of flax and other fibrous materials



e. MICHOT.

SCUTCHPNG 0F FLAX AND OTHER HBROUS MATERIALS. APPLICATION FILED nus. 14. Ian.

1,331,659. Patented Feb. 24,1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGES MICI-IO'I, OF DROMARA, IRELAND, ASSIGNOR TO FIBRE CORPORATION LIMITED, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

SCUTCI-IING OF FLAX AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 24, 1920.

. Application filed August 14, 1917. Serial No. 186,199.

7 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonens MICHOT, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, and residing at Dromara, county Down, Ireland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in and Relating to the Scutching of Flax and other Fibrous Materials, of which the following is a speci fication.

This invention relates to the scutching .of flax and other fibrous materials, and more particularly to machines in which the fibrous materials are inserted between a band and a drum or pulley around which the band is adapted to travel so that as the drum rotates the material is gripped and carried around a circumferential path while being subjected to'the action of one or more conveniently disposed scutching devices.

In machines of this character, particularly when dealing with large bundles of material, difliculty is experienced in properly spreading the material between the belt and the pulley so that the fibers are not gripped with a uniform degree of tightness.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved machine in which the above disadvantage is not present.

The invention consists in feeding flax or like straw preferably intermittently when held between bands or the like around a pulley in proximity to a surrounding horn plate or the like while the bundles of material are being turned over and progressively scutched at both ends by scutchingblades on both sides of the pulley.

My invention also consists in providing an improved feeding arrangement whereby the material is intermittently fed by a variably adjustable device, so that the time' during which the material is passing through the scutching zone or zones may be prolonged more or less as desired, according to the nature of the material being dealt with.

The invention further consists in providing means whereby the position of the fibrous material may be altered laterally between adjacent scutching devices so that that portion of the material which was gripped during its passage through the first scutching zone may be operated on by the next scutching device.

Further, the pulley around which the material is passed while being subjected to the action of the scutching device is provided at one or both sides, for example, with out wardly projecting teeth which are adapted to properly spread the material on the band as the material passes between the band and the pulley. The teeth also serve to prevent the material being wholly or partly drawn out from between the drum and belt when being subjected to the action of the scutching device.

Further, the conveying means may be adapted to be intermittently driven, for example, by a ratchet and pawl device which, in turn, is driven from a suitable rotating shaft such as the shaft carrying one of the scutching devices.

Further features of the invention will be hereinafter described.

All these features will be made clear from the description and drawings given below in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the complete machine.

Fig. 2 is a plan of the same; and

Fig. 3 an end elevation thereof.

In carrying out the invent-ion according to one mode, the flax or other fibrous material is conveyed through the scutching zone or zones by being gripped between two endless belts a, a, which are mounted upon conveniently disposed carryingpulleys 6,1), such pulleys being preferably of a diameter about one-fourth less than the scutching wheels, over the blades. The belts are substantially narrow and the fibrous material is adapted to be gripped adjacent the middle thereof and to hang down at the sides.

Adjacent to each carrying pulley scutching wheels 0, c are'mounted. Each scutching wheel comprises a disk carrying thin fiexible blades 0 which project from the periphery thereof. The wheels are arranged in pairs so that the. blades of each pair operate on the material disposed on the respective sidesof the carrying pulleys. It will be understood that both hanging ends of the material will thus be operated on simultaneously by the scutching devices. The wheels of each pair of scutching wheels may be fixed upon shafts 0 0, in any convenject beyond the periphery of the pulleys,

whereby when a'bundle of material is inserted between the belts it is spread therein so that all the fibers are gripped with a jnearly 111111 01111 degree of tightness. 1

According to the preferred construction, the teeth are formed upon thin disks which are mounted upon the carrying pulleys or drums; The material will thus be disposed between the. belts substantially at right angles totl e direction of travel andwill be prevented from being wholly or partially drawn out from between the belts while passing through the scutching zone.

In the preferred form the frame of the machine d is made as a central plate-like supporting 'ineinbeii having two heads cl, (Z for the carrying pulleys 'b, b, one .at each end, and bearings provided for the guide pulleys c, e. Supported from the main member at each side of the machine are vertical h'ornplates or guides g, g, which also partially surround the pulleys 6,6 and separate the ends of the bundle of fibers being worked upon. "fThe driving'pulley f is mounted in side levers f which are pivoted'at f in the frame of the machine, and are connected together at their free ends so as to provide a mounting or frame for the spindle of: the driving pulley. Suitable weights may be mounted upon the side levers f in order to stretch the belt and keep it taut. This pul- ,ley is caused to rotate preferably inter-init- .tently in any suitable manner.

I prefer to operate it as followsz- A ratchet wheel h is mounted upon the spindle f of the driving pulley and is engaged by a pawl 7t carried by a lever or levers h which are also pivotally mounted on the same-spindles The awl levers are connected by a rod 5 mounted upon the strap "'5 of an eccentric z whereby a rocking motion imparted to the pawllevers. The eccentric is mounted upon the spindle f on .which'the side levers are pivoted, and on the same spindle a sprocket-wheel 7c is mounted which is driven by a sprocket chain from oneof the scutching wheel shafts c or other suitable rotating member. The pawl levers are connected to the eccentric lever 111 an 120 to 180 revolutions per minute.

adjustable manner so that the amount of intermittent movement imparted to the belts may be varied as desired.

F or the purpose of laterally shifting the material between the belts, I provide at a suitable position between the two scutclr ing devices and adjacent the belts a pulley Z which has spikes or teeth projecting from its periphery, the axis of the pulley being disposed at right angles tothe plane of the belts. Thispulley is adapted to cooperate with the horizontal belts Z and Z which are mounted upon guide pulleys Z? and Z. The pulley Z which may have spikes or teeth thereon for engaging the belts is given a rotary motion through the vertical shaft/Iii and the fiber between the belts a, a adapted to be caught between the'belts Z and Z at the point a and becomes gripped between these belts and its position with reof the driving pulley 7, whereby the intermittent motion given to the driving pulley and belts will be transmitted to the mechanism for laterally shifting the material. The gear wheel m mounted upon the vertical'shaft m is heldin engagement with the gear wheel. on the driving pulley axle'by resilient means m so that its position may be varied according to the position of the driving pulley.

In operation thev material is introduced between the belts adjacent the lower side of one carrying pulley where it is suitably spread and gripped by the belts; these being traversed at about 5 to 8 feet per minute. On passing around the circumferential path of the pulley it is subjected to the'action oi: the first scutching wheel 0 running at about It is then, carried byv the belts past the laterally shifting device which alters its position so that on entering the next scutchingzone the part previously gripped by the belts will be subjected to the action of the second scut'ching device running at about the same speed as the first, after which it is released from the belts or, itnecessary passed to further scutching devices if desired. 7 During its passage around the carrying pulleys the material' is given an intermittent advancing movement which may be varied as desired, so that its passage through the scutching zones may be prolonged as may be necessary V the ends will not interfere with the new material which is being introduced into the machine.

Bymeans of my invention, I provide a scutching device which is specially applica ble to the scutching of long fibers of flax and other material in an economical and eflicient manner.

Having now described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. Ina machine for scutching fibrous material comprising a pair of scutching devices and conveying mechanism for carrying the said material succesively within the sphere of action of the two scutching devices, means intermediate the two scutching devices for laterally shifting the fibrous material, said means comprising a spiked wheel laterally disposed relatively to the said conveying mechanism and two endless bands cooperating with the spiked wheel to grip the fibrous material and move it in lateral direction.

2. In a machine for scutching fibrous material comprising a pair of scutching de- Vices and conveying mechanism for carrying the said material successively within the sphere of action of the two scutching devices, means intermediate the two scutching devicesfor laterally shifting the fibrous ma terial, said means comprising a spiked wheel laterally disposed relatively to the said conveying mechanism substantially in the plane of motion of the fibrous material and two endless bands cooperating with the spiked wheel to grip the fibrous material and move it in lateral direction.

3. In amachine for scutching fibrous material comprising a pair of scutching devices and conveying mechanism for carr v mg the SfLlCl material successively within the sphere of action of the two scutching devices.

.means intermediate the two scutching devices for laterally shifting the fibrous material, said means comprising a spiked wheel laterally disposed relatively to the said conveying mechanism substantially in v the plane'of motion of the fibrous material and two' endless bands cooperating with the splked wheel to grip, the fibrous material i and move it in lateral direction, said endless bands being disposed to move in substantially the same plane as the spiked wheel.

4. In a machine for scutching fibrous material comprising a pair of scutching devices and, conveyingmechanism for'carrying the said material successively within the sphere of; action of the two scutching devices,

means intermediate the two scutching devices for laterally shifting the fibrous material, said means including two endless bands disposed to define a gripping portion therebetween extending at an angle to the direc tion of motion of the conveyer and the bands being further disposed, at the receiving end of the gripping portion, to grip the fibrous material in a plane which is inclined to the plane in which the material is carried upon the conveyer.

5. In a machine for scutching fibrous material comprising a pair of scutching devices and conveying mechanism for carrying the said material successively within the sphere of action of the two scutching devices, means intermediate the two scutching devices for laterally shifting the fibrous material, said means including two endless bands disposed to define a gripping portion therebetween extending at an angle to the direction of motion of the conveyer and to carry the portion of the fibrous material gripped in planes inclined to the plane inwhich the material is carried upon the conveyer. 6. In a machine for scutching fibrous ma terial comprising a pairof scutching devices and conveying mechanism for carrying the said material successively within the sphere of action of the two scutching devices, means intermediate the two scutching de vices for laterally shifting the fibrous material, said means including two endless bands disposed to define a gripping portion therebetween extending at an angle to the direction of motion of the conveyer and the bands being further disposed, at the receivin nd of the gripping portion, to grip the fibrous material in a plane wnich is inclined to the plane in which the material is carried upon the conveyer, and means extending along said gripping portion for positively moving the gripped portion of the fibrous material along the gripping portion of the endless bands.

7. Ina machine for scutching fibrous material comprising a pair of scutching devi and conveying mechanism for carrying the said material successively within the sphere of. action of the two scutching devices, means intermediate the two scutching devices for laterally shifting the fibrous material, said means comprising two endless bands disposed to define therebetween gripping surfaces inclined with respect to the surface of the conveyer and extending at an angle to the direction of motion of the conveyer and means for positively moving lli the portion of the fibrous material gripped mechanisn'i in unison with the endless band mechanism first mentioned.

9. In a machine for scutching fibrous material a frame for supporting in spaced relation a pair of pulleys carrying an endless band, a second hand passing over-the pulleys and having a downwardly extending loop, a feed wheel engaging the loop of said second band, a leverpivoted at one end and carrying a shaft for pivotally supporting intermediate its ends the said feed wheel and means for intermittently turning the said feed wheel.

10. Ina machine for scutching fibrous material a frame for supporting in spaced relation a pair of pulleys carrying an endless band, a secondhand pasing over the pulleys and having a downwardly extending loop, a feed wheelengaging the loop of said second band, a lever pivoted at one end and carrying a shaft for pivotally supporting intermediate its ends the said feed wheel, ratchet mechanismon the feed wheel, a lever pivotally mounted on the said shaft and carrying a pawl cooperating with the ratchet mechanism and aneccentric mounted on the frame and adapted to impart a rocking motion to the said lever to intermittently turn the feed wheel.

11. In a machine for 'sc'utching fibrous material, a frame carrying at its upper end two'horizontally spaced pulleys and in a central recess in its lower portion a feed wheel, an endless band surrounding the said pulleys, a second endless band surrounding the pulleys and having a downwardly ex' tending loop engaging the said feed wheel, guide pulleys for causing the second band to pass in a vertical direction from the feed wheel and then in a horizontal direction to the said pulleys and in contact with the first endless band, teeth radially projecting from the sides of the pulleys and frame members surrounding the'pulleys to afiord protection 7 against the teeth.

12. In a machine for scutching fibrous material, a frame carrying at its upper end two horizontally spaced pulleys, an endless band surrounding the pulleys for moveme'nt in horizontal planes, a second endless band surrounding the said pulleys and the first endless band and having a downwardly extending loop,' gui'de pulleys position d to bring a portion ofsaid loop in contact with the lower horizontal portion of the. first band, a feed wheel engaging the said loop, a lever pivotally connected atone end to. the frame and carrying intermediate its ends a shaft for pivotally supporting the feed wheel, the said feed wheel being disposed in a recesscentrally located in the lower portion of the frame, and means for imparting motion to the feedwheel. 7

13. In a machine 'for'scutching fibrous material, a frame comprising a central portion carrying at its upper end two horizontally spaced pulleys and having in its lower portion a central recess adapted to house a feed wheel, an endless. bandjsurrounding the 7 said pulleys for motion in horizontal directions, a second endless band surrounding the said pulleys and the first band and having a downwardly extending loop surrounding the feed pulley, guide pulleys on the frame positioned to bring portions of the loop in contact with the lower horizontal portion of the first band and to cause the remaining portion ofthe loop to pass in vertical direction to and from the feed wheel, alever pivotally connected at one end to the frame and pivotallysupporting intermediate its ends the feed wheel, means for imparting turning motiontothe feed wheel, teeth radially extending from the sides of the pulleys and frame members surrounding the said pulleys toafiord protection against the teeth. 2 i

14:. A- machine for scutching fibrous material comprising two horizontally spaced pulleys, an endless band surrounding the pulleys, a second endless band surrounding the pulleys and the first band and having a downwardly extending loop, a feed wheel engaging the said loop, a leverpivotally con nected at one end to a support and pivotally supporting intermediate its ends the feed wheel, meansfor imparting motion to the feed wheel, scutching devices adjacent the pulleys, a spiked wheel intermediate the two pulleys mounted for rotation substantially in the plane of the upper portions of the endless bands and adapted to laterally shift the fibrous material carried thereby from one s'cutching device to the other and means connected to the feed pulley for operating the spiked wheel. V V 15. A machine forscutching fibrous material comprising two horizontallyspaced pulleys, an endless band, surrounding the V pulleys mounted for rotation substantially in the plane of the upper portions of the endless bands, two endless bands and pulleys mounted to guide them in contact with the spiked wheel to thereby laterally shift the fibrous material passing from one scutching device to the other, and means connected to the feed pulley for operating the spiked wheel and the endless bands contacting therewith.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

GEORGES MICHOT. 

